


critical condition

by vnllabean



Category: NoPixel
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23677360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vnllabean/pseuds/vnllabean
Summary: bobby, broken and bruised from the fighting pit, finds himself needing help. only one person seems to care.
Relationships: AJ Hunter/Bobby Smith, Bobby Smith/Vladimir Raven
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	critical condition

**Author's Note:**

> the more i wrote, the more i hated it, but i'm posting it anyways :)

It is unknown how Bobby ended up on the front porch of what was once his home. His mind barely registers the movement of his hand to the doorbell. Hope of help relying on the man who would have no reason to give the help needed. 

Inside, suspicious eyes travel to the front door as a chime bounces off the walls. Raven takes one last draw before putting the cigarette out into the littered ashtray, unaware of the urgency. Dragging his boots to the door, he wonders who would be here at an hour so late. Opening the door, annoyance turns to confusion and concern.

Bobby, overwhelmed with pain, lies half naked on the cold concrete at Raven’s feet. Ragged breathing fills the night air as Raven takes in the dark purple bruises that contrast with pale skin. Raven moves quickly to his phone on the kitchen counter and calls the emergency line. After explaining the situation, Raven returns to the porch and gets on his knees to examine Bobby closer. 

The blond man feels hands travel to his exposed back. Above the blood soaked brims of worn jeans, fingers lightly trace the carved  _ RB _ . Scared to breathe, Bobby releases a whimper. 

“EMS are on their way Bobby.” 

Sirens scream and lights flash from the driveway. Bobby is placed on a stretcher and moved to the back of the ambulance. Raven closes the door and prepares for bed while a lone LSPD cruiser follows closely behind the vehicle that transports Bobby to the hospital where doctors prepare for surgery. 

\--- 

Bobby wakes up to an empty hospital room. 

He wants to make excuses for why no one is here. The job is what pushed his loved ones away. Being in his position, not many want to stay around him when his mind is only focused on the negatives of his police department. He wants to give his friends the benefit of the doubt. All his friends are co-workers and he knows that when the job calls, you must go. He would want them to go. 

It’s what they signed up for. 

_ It’s what you signed up for.  _

Bobby didn’t sign up for this. Didn’t sign up to be kidnapped. Didn’t sign up to be beaten in a fighting pit. Didn’t sign up to get letters carved into his back that would leave a permanent scar. Bobby didn’t sign up to be abused or to be left alone. Death seems be better, he would then at least have his sister. 

_ You’re lucky to be alive.  _

That’s what the doctors told him before they left. They explained that he had a broken rib that came very close to puncturing his lung. If it weren’t for the drugs flowing through his body, he would imagine the pain would be what he remembers it was that night. 

The squeak from the door handle drags Bobby out of his thoughts. 

“Bobby?”

A soft British accent greets Bobby’s ears and butterflies greet his stomach. AJ stands still once he enters the hospital room. The sunlight deepens the shadow covering Bobby’s left eye. AJ wonders if Bobby even notices the eyepatch is gone. 

“Did they leave you with report duty?” 

AJ tilts his head, raising a brow. “What?” 

As Bobby stares at the man who stands an arm's length away, he starts to notice small details. AJs clothes, usually spotless, have creases and food stains. His hair, once gelled to perfection, is now disheveled on his right side. AJ shifts underneath the chief’s analyzing gaze. 

Bobby throws away the information and continues, “I’m ready to tell you everything I remember when you’re ready.”

“I’m not here to take a report, chief.” AJ looks at the man in the hospital bed in disbelief. To be so high in the chain of command, he would think Bobby would notice the take out boxes or the several cups of coffee that have yet to be thrown out on the floor by the pull out couch. If it weren’t for the rules of the hospital, cigarettes buds would have shown signs of chain smoking. “I’m here for you, Bobby.” 

Bobby, lost for words, shifts his eyes to the hands in his lap. Stuck in a hospital bed, he has nowhere to run or hide, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t try. He starts to push the blanket down his legs.

“I need to go to the restroom.” The words rush out of the blond’s mouth. 

AJ steps toward the struggling man, “Let me help.”

“No,” Bobby gasps out, not realizing his struggle to breathe. 

Once making it across the room, Bobby closes the door, blocking AJ’s view of him. He leans on the sink in front of him, refusing to look in the mirror. With eyes shut tight, he begins taking deep breaths to calm himself down. When tears start to roll down his cheeks, Bobby lets them fall, already too fatigued to lift another muscle. 

AJ stands alone and watches the bathroom door closely. When Raven’s call came over dispatch two nights ago, he wasted no time. With lights and sirens on, AJ arrived just seconds after the EMS. His patrol car hasn’t left the parking lot downstairs since Bobby arrived at the hospital. When he was told that the injured man would be going into surgery he decided he would be taking the rest of the week off. Taking care of Bobby has become his number one priority, but it was becoming clear it would be more difficult to do so when the older man refused his help. 

Inside the bathroom Bobby holds out his hands and watches them as they tremble. He doesn’t try to control the shaking, knows that there is no use. It’s his idea of meditation, to focus on what is happening in the present, his trembling hands, instead of the mistakes he’s made in the past or the consequences he could face in the future. It allows his mind to become blank. 

Bobby turns toward the door once his panic subsides. The part of Bobby that wants to run, hopes that AJ has left. The other part of Bobby, the part that needs love and comfort, hopes that Bobby doesn’t continue to neglect his needs. 

AJ watches as the door to the bathroom slowly opens. As Bobby walks to the bed, AJ notices that Bobby has grown his beard out and he can’t help but think how it would feel to kiss the man. 

The bearded man keeps his eyes averted towards the floor. The feeling of relief wanting to explode from his body. 

Someone cares. 

_ AJ cares.  _

Making a second attempt, AJ holds out a hand to help Bobby into bed. Blue eyes glance at the hand, but trembling hands make no move to take it. Instead, the bed allows Bobby to stable himself before lifting himself up and covering himself with the coarse blanket. 

“You’re being stubborn,” AJ says bluntly. 

Bobby knows this, but the thought of becoming dependent on someone else is frightening. He can fake it, sure. But when the time comes, when he’s left alone and the hand that reached out to help is no longer there, he needs to be able to stand himself up. It’s what he had to do when Raven and Copper left him. When he pushed them away with his stubbornness.

Bobby pouts and attempts a lousy excuse when he’s interrupted. 

“I can be stubborn too.” 

\---

AJ opens the door to his apartment and carefully guides Bobby to the couch. Throughout the day AJ takes care of Bobby and with him sleeping for the most part, it seems to be an easy task. The warmth Bobby brings is something AJ intends to keep. 

And at night, when delicate touches avoid the stitching and bruising that scatter Bobby’s skin to calm him from the nightmares he wakes from, Bobby can’t help but fall deeper for the younger man. However, another part of him can’t help but question whether the harsh winds have finally stopped or if this is just the eye of the hurricane. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! if you have any advice please feel free to give it!


End file.
